Thursday, August 28, 2014

I have a little box on my desk that collects extra die cuts, and stamped images that don't make it onto a card. I've challenged myself to use these items instead of continually starting from 'scratch". You can find another project (journalling cards) in this series here.

This "tag" started out as
a card front. I made a few mistakes while I was stamping a background panel (Dot Spot), so it landed in the box "on my desk".

I cut the stamped panel into a tag so I was able to avoid the bloopers!! The sentiment circle (Just For You) and the butterfly die cut (Heart-2-Heart #10) were ready to use from my stash, with only a few additions. These were layered onto the tag and I was quickly done!! I still have lots of bits and bobs on my desk, so I'm sure I'll be making more scrap inspired projects. It feels good to clean out these scraps and have a completed project at the same time!!

Monday, August 25, 2014

It's time for Papertrey Ink's monthlyBlog Hop Challenge (details here). Nichole Heady provided this inspiration photo from Kate Spade's stationary line and challenged us to make a postcard style project. Here are some of the other suggestions:

Create a bold border using the chisel tip of a marker

Gold embossed polka dots!

A gold embossedsentiment on a crisp white card.

A simple color scheme - white with a splash of colour

Create a fun and festive envelope liner for your card.

I made a little note card and envelope.

I used the Striped Hibiscus Burst Patterned Paper to make an envelope liner.

The Library Card Die was cut once as a full card and then a narrow piece of white card stock
and another of striped paper was cut from the bottom portion to avoid
the tag die hole and allow me to create the top focal panel.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

I've been slowly cleaning in my craft room this summer and trying to get some recent purchases tucked away, but as usual I kinda get side tracked!!

I have a little
box on my desk that collects extra die cuts and stamped
images. I have challenged myself to use these "leftovers", instead
of continually starting from scratch. This new series - On My Desk - will be focusing on different ways to use these paper scraps. What do you do with all of the bits and bobs of crafting supplies that land on your desk?

I found some Doodlie-Do stamped die cuts in my scrap box, that were begging to be used!! (leftovers/mistakes from this card). I used some other scraps from my desk, along with some of the newer products I had just received to make two journal cards. (I couldn't resist playing with my new dies)

Journal Card #2 I know it defeats the purpose of die cuts, but I ended up fussy cutting around the leaves and parts of the flowers - it was stamped "off
target" and the edges of the coaster board had a ragged edge where it didn't cut properly. (user error!!)

I stamped the main image with Simply Chartreuse ink so the stems would be visible once I added the individual flowers and leaves over the stamping. It actually adds dimension to the final image.

I'm hoping to get started with some pocket scrap booking and/or layouts this fall and having these cards prepared will be a time saver!! It's also a great size to use all the scraps that have collected on my desk.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Today's post is a little different, incorporating some "old" cards that I found in my stash and some "newly" decorated envelopes to go with them!!

Like many stampers, I have a collection of cards tucked away and somewhat forgotten. This summer I spent time cleaning and organizing in my craft room. My space was in so much chaos, I just didn't feel like creating. I knew that I had to get a handle on all of the new and old products and projects that were piling up. At the same time, I needed a variety of birthday and anniversary cards for family members. As I was going through the saved cards, I picked out a few that I thought would work and then set about making a "new" envelope to give the card a fresh look.

Something Old #1:

I made several of these cards and kept one in my stash. (details here)

It was a perfect time to use it for my grand niece's first birthday in August.

Something Old #2:I had made a slider card using the 3 image panels below. I didn't like the way it looked, so I re-worked the pieces to create a card with extra sentiment pages for my 4 year old grand nephew. He's into pirates so this was a real hit with the birthday boy!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Papertrey Ink's Make It Market Kit: Shakers and Sprinkles arrived a few weeks ago. We celebrated my 2 year old grand neice's birthday this week and I knew she would love a shaker card. Since this was my first card using the kit supplies, I decided to use this project from Betsy Veldman as my guide.

A white panel was added to the inside of the card. Confetti (Birthday Style)was stamped with Raspberry Fizz, Limeade Ice, Harvest Gold, Aqua Mist. The sentiment and die cut word are also from the Shakers and Sprinkles kit.

The inside of the card was finished with a sentiment from Think Big #24 and two additional punched hearts.

The little tree stump (Close To My Heart: Wild About Love) was stamped

with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copic markers.

* Since I was hand delivering the card, I stamped the Envelope Front with a tree (Floral Foliage). Dots were added to the center of the flowers using a red marker. * The background was made using a Polka Dot stencil (Heidi Swapp) with Aqua Mist and Simply Chartreuse inks. I hand drew the dotted line with a brown marker to designate a hill and create a distinction between the "grass" and "sky". * Label Basics was stamped onto a piece of white card stock, hand cut and glued to the envelope front (it covers a blooper that I made while stamping the sentiment. (Comfort Food Additions). The names were stamped with Simply Chartreuse Ink. (Stampendous: Retro Alphabet)

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Are you enjoying the lazy days of summer? It's been very hot here so we've been spending a lot of time on the deck and in the garden; we need to soak it all in while we can!! My poor blog has really taken a back seat to everything else the last few months, but I have been organizing and cleaning in my craft room and crafting a bit in between!!

I received a package of goodies from Papertrey Ink in July with Phrase Play #4 stamps and die. It arrived just before my son's birthday so I decided to use them, along with balloons from Heart-2-Heart #2 and 'confetti' from Birthday Styleto make his card. I used Blueberry Sky and Limeade Ice accented with Pure Poppy and Harvest Gold to create a masculine card:

Dimension was added to the focal panel and the balloons using foam dots.Three colours of Baker's Twine were tied to the balloons and knotted at the bottom.

About Me

After teaching for 31 years, I retired in order to spend more time travelling, gardening and crafting!! I have always loved to sew and knit, but after I left teaching I decided it was time to organize all of the family pictures into scrapbooks. I haven't gotten too far on that project, as I started taking card making classes at the local scrap booking store and then became fascinated with stamping... now I can be 'lost' in my crafty room for hours at a time!! I have two grown sons and a very understanding and supportive husband.